Saturday, October 5
Missoula, Mont.
1 PM
Montana
4-2 , 1-1
48
vs
55
Weber State
3-3 , 2-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
OT
F
Weber St.
14
14
3
17
7
55
Montana
7
10
6
25
0
48
Photo by: Ryan Brennecke
Big plays bury Griz comeback attempt
10/5/2024 8:47:00 PM | Football
Weber State struck with several big plays early to take an 11-point halftime lead and hit on more big plays in the second half to stifle a Montana comeback attempt, with the Wildcats upsetting the Grizzlies 55-48 in overtime at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday.
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WSU quarterback Richie Munoz threw for 364 yards and six touchdowns, with three of those scores from 50-plus out. The Wildcats also rushed for 177 more to gash the Grizzly defense for 541 yards and added a kickoff return touchdown as well in a Big Sky shootout.
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UM quarterback Logan Fife piled-up big numbers for a second-straight week, completing 73 percent of his passes for 344 yards and a pair of TDs. Led by four total touchdowns with three on the ground from Eli Gillman, the Grizzly rushing attack put up 172 yards for 527 total but couldn't punch it in for one last score in overtime.
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In a back-and-forth thriller that saw six lead changes, the Grizzlies scored four touchdowns and a field goal in the second half to take a 48-45 lead with less than a minute to play. The Wildcat one-minute drill marched the visitors back into Montana territory in short order, however, setting up kicker Kyle Thompson for a 43-yard field goal that snuck just inside the left upright to send it to overtime, 48-48.
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In the extra period WSU scored first on a reviewed touchdown catch where it appeared Damon Bankston had come back to the field of play from running out of bounds. He was ruled as having been forced out by a Grizzy defender, however, making him eligible for the go-ahead touchdown catch to make it 55-48.
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With an opportunity to send it to double overtime on the ensuing Grizzly drive, Fife was sacked and stripped of the ball, which Weber State recovered to seal its third-straight win over Montana.
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The heartbreaker of a loss drops UM to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, snapping the Grizzly streak of 15-straight wins at home. Weber State improves to 3-3 on the year and stays unbeaten in Big Sky play at 2-0.
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"I'm proud of our team. They battled back. We were up against it, we were down, things didn't go well early, but we really fought back, took the lead a couple times, but we just couldn't come up with it," said head coach Bobby Hauck, now 8-4 in his career over WSU.
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"That's unfortunate because we did enough to win it. There were a lot of close calls, it seemed like every break went their way, but those deep balls we gave up, the kickoff return, and the two fumbles really cost us."
ÂGallery: (10-5-2024) FB: Montana vs Weber State (10.05.24)
In addition to another big game from Fife, Montana got some more massive individual performances. Keelan White had a career day, catching 11 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown.
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Gillman's four TD total and three rushing TDs were both career-highs. The sophomore brought his career tally of rushing scores to 23 with today's performance, moving him into UM's top 10 all-time, right behind his teammate Nick Ostmo's total of 25, and one ahead of his position coach Justin Green's career total of 22. He's also now in UM's top 20 all time in total TDs with the first touchdown catch of his career.
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"The offense did some good things. The fumble at the end and the fumble when we had the lead and the ball where we held them to a field goal – those were the negatives. We really played well on the offensive side. We ran it well, we threw it well, guys made plays, they were effective on third down. It was good," said Hauck.
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Riley Wilson led the charge defensively, posting a career-high 14 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and a QB Hurry. Senior end Hayden Harris was also dangerous once again, punching-out his second strip-sack of the season and recovering the fumble for his third forced fumble this year. Harris leads the Griz in sacks (7.5) and TFLs (8.5) to go along with 19 total tackles.
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Missed tackles were the story of the day for the Grizzly defense, however, with Weber State totaling 174 of their 364 passing yards after the catch.
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Noah Kjar put WSU up 21-10 in the early going on a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown where he slipped off a pair of tackles to break free. On a Montana outfit that prides itself on special teams coverage, it was the first kickoff return for a score since Portland State ran one back in 2017, before Hauck returned to UM.
Montana wasted time getting the offense rolling on the first drive of the game, starting with the ball after WSU won the coin toss and deferred, putting together a four play, 59-yard drive. The Griz took advantage of good field position set up by a Bergen kickoff return to around midfield.
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Fife got his second-straight start and hit White on third down across the middle for gain of 17 yards into WSU territory. On the next play Montana found paydirt with Gillman taking the ball around left end 37 yards to the endzone on his first touch of the day to put the Griz up 7-0 early.
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On WSU's first drive, Chrishawn Gordon missed on an interception attempt on a swing pass from Munoz that was a whisker away from being a pick-six for the Griz, but instead it was snagged out of the air by Jayleen Record who had room to run behind the defense, taking it 35 yards to the house to tie the game 7-7 after just three and half minutes of action.
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After UM's next drive stalled WSU took the lead, marching down 91 yards in six plays to go up 14-7 as the missed tackles started to pile up for the Griz.
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A feisty first quarter that saw a total of seven penalties between the two original members of the Big Sky Conference came to an end after UM got turned over on downs with a pair of tipped passes at the line of scrimmage and WSU was forced to punt.
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Montana was facing another third and long situation to start the second quarter when Fife rolled-out and zipped a sidearm pass to Evan Shafer for nine yards and a first down to the WSU 32. A holding penalty on Shafer on the next play would move the Griz backward though, stalling the drive.
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Kicker Ty Morrison then hit his first of two field goals on the day from 44-yards out to cut WSU's lead to 14-10 early in the second period. On the ensuing kickoff, however, Kjar then struck with his 95-yard return to extend the lead for the visitor to 21-10.
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After a shanked Grizzly punt, the Wildcats struck again two plays later when Munoz went deep and hit Jacob Sharp on a fade route over Trevin Gradney for a 50-yard explosive play to put the visitors up 28-10, still with over seven minutes in the half. The strike kept up a near-perfect streak for Munoz, who was five-for-six passing at the time for 118 yards and three touchdowns, resulting in a QB rating of 413.
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If Montana was going to make a first-half comeback, they needed a spark. Bergen set the offense up with good field position on the ensuing kickoff with a 39-yard return to the WSU 41. A nine-yard rush up the middle for Ostmo and two quick completions from Fife to White put the Griz in striking distance with a first and goal at the four yard line.
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Two plays later, Fife pulled the handoff and sprinted around left end untouched for the Grizzlies' second score of the day to cut the WSU lead to 28-17 with just over three minutes in the half.
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On a big 3rd and 10 for the UM defense, Harris came up with a bigger turnover, bursting through the middle to sack Munoz and force a fumble that he recovered himself to give the Grizzlies the ball in WSU territory with under two minutes in the half. The Grizzlies couldn't capitalize on the turnover though, heading into the locker room with no points from the possession after a four-and-out to turn it over on downs.
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The second half started with WSU receiving the ball and the defense stepped up. The first play of the half resulted in a TFL for a heard of Grizzly defenders. After that though, Munoz and the Wildcats started breaking off chunk plays again - three in a row for 10-plus yards that put them into Grizzly territory at the 32. But UM got the stop when it needed to with TJ Rausch and Ryan Tirrell stuffing a Damon Bankston run on fourth and short that to turn it over on downs.
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Fife and the Griz took advantage of the field position when the junior QB rolled out and hit Gillman wide-open 30 yards down field, who then palmed-off several defenders on his way 68 yards to the house to make it a 28-23 game after the two-point conversion failed.
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Another defensive hold for the Grizzlies gave UM the ball at their own 14, but a 10-yard stampede for Ostmo ended in tragedy when Trevian Tribble forced a fumble that the Wildcats would recover, setting the visitors up in UM territory.
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A false start penalty on WSU would stall their progress, however, resulting in Thompson slotting a 29-yard field goal to make it 31-23 with three minutes in the third quarter.
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Then the Grizzly offense got cookin'. On the next drive Fife threaded a needle to Aaron Fontes across the middle to get into the WSU red zone at the 15-yard line. After the Wildcats were flagged for pass interference, Gillman struck again from three yards out less than a minute into the quarter to make it 31-30 after a Morrison PAT.
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On the next drive, Wilson came off the left edge and sacked Munoz on third down to force the visitors to punt, with UM trailing by one.
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The Griz went to the foot of Morrison once again after the drive stalled out, and the junior delivered, nailing a career-long 48-yard field goal to give the Griz their first lead since the opening five minutes with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
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WSU would come up with another big paly to retake the lead, however, with Munoz hitting Record deep on a 53-yard strike to cap a quick three-play, 70-yard drive and go up 38-33 with 8:39 to play.
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Fife went back to work in the passing game on the next drive, hitting White deep to go inside the visitor's five yard line. One play later, Gillman found the endzone for the fourth time on a short burst up the middle. The two point conversion on a pass from Bergen to Jake Olson put the Griz up 41-38 with just over five minutes to go.
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Weber State again came up with a big play when it mattered most on the next possession, with Munoz hitting Sharp for a 71 strike, with another missed tackle from the Griz springing him loose. The score put the visitors back in the lead 45-41 with just over four minutes to play.
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Montana then set out on a methodical rush-driven drive that saw the Griz carry the ball seven times in 10 plays to chew up the clock before Fife hit White up the middle for a 13-yard strike that put the Griz on top 45-48 with less than a minute to play.
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On the next drive Munoz again came up with big plays as time expired in regulation, however, carving up the UM defense for gains of 12 and 17 through the air before Thompson kicked a 43-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
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After UM won the overtime coin toss and chose to send the defense out first, Munoz converted a third and seven with the controversial pass to Bankston in the endzone that was eventually upheld after review, giving WSU the 55-48 lead.
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One play later, Fife was on the ground, the ball was loose, and Weber State went home with a win, caping a wild finish in Missoula.
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We've got to play more cleanly and play better. And when I say cleanly it means we have to execute our assignments better," said Hauck.
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"I think we're in position a lot, but we get out of position and whether it's a protection or a coverage or a guy getting out of his leverage point on a run play on defense, whatever the case may be. We've got to do that, and when we get our hands on people they've got to go down. It's all those things. There are not drastic things wrong, we've just got to play a little better." Â
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Montana will look to rebound from the loss at home again next week when Northern Arizona comes to Missoula on Homecoming Weekend. NAU beat the Griz 28-14 in Flagstaff in the last meeting between the two old conference foes, right before Montana ripped off a string of 10-straight wins.
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The Lumberjacks come to Missoula at 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference play after a near-miss of their own on Saturday, falling at Idaho 23-17 in a thriller.
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WSU quarterback Richie Munoz threw for 364 yards and six touchdowns, with three of those scores from 50-plus out. The Wildcats also rushed for 177 more to gash the Grizzly defense for 541 yards and added a kickoff return touchdown as well in a Big Sky shootout.
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UM quarterback Logan Fife piled-up big numbers for a second-straight week, completing 73 percent of his passes for 344 yards and a pair of TDs. Led by four total touchdowns with three on the ground from Eli Gillman, the Grizzly rushing attack put up 172 yards for 527 total but couldn't punch it in for one last score in overtime.
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In a back-and-forth thriller that saw six lead changes, the Grizzlies scored four touchdowns and a field goal in the second half to take a 48-45 lead with less than a minute to play. The Wildcat one-minute drill marched the visitors back into Montana territory in short order, however, setting up kicker Kyle Thompson for a 43-yard field goal that snuck just inside the left upright to send it to overtime, 48-48.
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In the extra period WSU scored first on a reviewed touchdown catch where it appeared Damon Bankston had come back to the field of play from running out of bounds. He was ruled as having been forced out by a Grizzy defender, however, making him eligible for the go-ahead touchdown catch to make it 55-48.
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With an opportunity to send it to double overtime on the ensuing Grizzly drive, Fife was sacked and stripped of the ball, which Weber State recovered to seal its third-straight win over Montana.
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The heartbreaker of a loss drops UM to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, snapping the Grizzly streak of 15-straight wins at home. Weber State improves to 3-3 on the year and stays unbeaten in Big Sky play at 2-0.
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"I'm proud of our team. They battled back. We were up against it, we were down, things didn't go well early, but we really fought back, took the lead a couple times, but we just couldn't come up with it," said head coach Bobby Hauck, now 8-4 in his career over WSU.
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"That's unfortunate because we did enough to win it. There were a lot of close calls, it seemed like every break went their way, but those deep balls we gave up, the kickoff return, and the two fumbles really cost us."
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In addition to another big game from Fife, Montana got some more massive individual performances. Keelan White had a career day, catching 11 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown.
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Gillman's four TD total and three rushing TDs were both career-highs. The sophomore brought his career tally of rushing scores to 23 with today's performance, moving him into UM's top 10 all-time, right behind his teammate Nick Ostmo's total of 25, and one ahead of his position coach Justin Green's career total of 22. He's also now in UM's top 20 all time in total TDs with the first touchdown catch of his career.
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"The offense did some good things. The fumble at the end and the fumble when we had the lead and the ball where we held them to a field goal – those were the negatives. We really played well on the offensive side. We ran it well, we threw it well, guys made plays, they were effective on third down. It was good," said Hauck.
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Riley Wilson led the charge defensively, posting a career-high 14 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and a QB Hurry. Senior end Hayden Harris was also dangerous once again, punching-out his second strip-sack of the season and recovering the fumble for his third forced fumble this year. Harris leads the Griz in sacks (7.5) and TFLs (8.5) to go along with 19 total tackles.
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Missed tackles were the story of the day for the Grizzly defense, however, with Weber State totaling 174 of their 364 passing yards after the catch.
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Noah Kjar put WSU up 21-10 in the early going on a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown where he slipped off a pair of tackles to break free. On a Montana outfit that prides itself on special teams coverage, it was the first kickoff return for a score since Portland State ran one back in 2017, before Hauck returned to UM.
Montana wasted time getting the offense rolling on the first drive of the game, starting with the ball after WSU won the coin toss and deferred, putting together a four play, 59-yard drive. The Griz took advantage of good field position set up by a Bergen kickoff return to around midfield.
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Fife got his second-straight start and hit White on third down across the middle for gain of 17 yards into WSU territory. On the next play Montana found paydirt with Gillman taking the ball around left end 37 yards to the endzone on his first touch of the day to put the Griz up 7-0 early.
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On WSU's first drive, Chrishawn Gordon missed on an interception attempt on a swing pass from Munoz that was a whisker away from being a pick-six for the Griz, but instead it was snagged out of the air by Jayleen Record who had room to run behind the defense, taking it 35 yards to the house to tie the game 7-7 after just three and half minutes of action.
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After UM's next drive stalled WSU took the lead, marching down 91 yards in six plays to go up 14-7 as the missed tackles started to pile up for the Griz.
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A feisty first quarter that saw a total of seven penalties between the two original members of the Big Sky Conference came to an end after UM got turned over on downs with a pair of tipped passes at the line of scrimmage and WSU was forced to punt.
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Montana was facing another third and long situation to start the second quarter when Fife rolled-out and zipped a sidearm pass to Evan Shafer for nine yards and a first down to the WSU 32. A holding penalty on Shafer on the next play would move the Griz backward though, stalling the drive.
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Kicker Ty Morrison then hit his first of two field goals on the day from 44-yards out to cut WSU's lead to 14-10 early in the second period. On the ensuing kickoff, however, Kjar then struck with his 95-yard return to extend the lead for the visitor to 21-10.
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After a shanked Grizzly punt, the Wildcats struck again two plays later when Munoz went deep and hit Jacob Sharp on a fade route over Trevin Gradney for a 50-yard explosive play to put the visitors up 28-10, still with over seven minutes in the half. The strike kept up a near-perfect streak for Munoz, who was five-for-six passing at the time for 118 yards and three touchdowns, resulting in a QB rating of 413.
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If Montana was going to make a first-half comeback, they needed a spark. Bergen set the offense up with good field position on the ensuing kickoff with a 39-yard return to the WSU 41. A nine-yard rush up the middle for Ostmo and two quick completions from Fife to White put the Griz in striking distance with a first and goal at the four yard line.
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Two plays later, Fife pulled the handoff and sprinted around left end untouched for the Grizzlies' second score of the day to cut the WSU lead to 28-17 with just over three minutes in the half.
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On a big 3rd and 10 for the UM defense, Harris came up with a bigger turnover, bursting through the middle to sack Munoz and force a fumble that he recovered himself to give the Grizzlies the ball in WSU territory with under two minutes in the half. The Grizzlies couldn't capitalize on the turnover though, heading into the locker room with no points from the possession after a four-and-out to turn it over on downs.
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The second half started with WSU receiving the ball and the defense stepped up. The first play of the half resulted in a TFL for a heard of Grizzly defenders. After that though, Munoz and the Wildcats started breaking off chunk plays again - three in a row for 10-plus yards that put them into Grizzly territory at the 32. But UM got the stop when it needed to with TJ Rausch and Ryan Tirrell stuffing a Damon Bankston run on fourth and short that to turn it over on downs.
Â
Fife and the Griz took advantage of the field position when the junior QB rolled out and hit Gillman wide-open 30 yards down field, who then palmed-off several defenders on his way 68 yards to the house to make it a 28-23 game after the two-point conversion failed.
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Another defensive hold for the Grizzlies gave UM the ball at their own 14, but a 10-yard stampede for Ostmo ended in tragedy when Trevian Tribble forced a fumble that the Wildcats would recover, setting the visitors up in UM territory.
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A false start penalty on WSU would stall their progress, however, resulting in Thompson slotting a 29-yard field goal to make it 31-23 with three minutes in the third quarter.
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Then the Grizzly offense got cookin'. On the next drive Fife threaded a needle to Aaron Fontes across the middle to get into the WSU red zone at the 15-yard line. After the Wildcats were flagged for pass interference, Gillman struck again from three yards out less than a minute into the quarter to make it 31-30 after a Morrison PAT.
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On the next drive, Wilson came off the left edge and sacked Munoz on third down to force the visitors to punt, with UM trailing by one.
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The Griz went to the foot of Morrison once again after the drive stalled out, and the junior delivered, nailing a career-long 48-yard field goal to give the Griz their first lead since the opening five minutes with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
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WSU would come up with another big paly to retake the lead, however, with Munoz hitting Record deep on a 53-yard strike to cap a quick three-play, 70-yard drive and go up 38-33 with 8:39 to play.
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Fife went back to work in the passing game on the next drive, hitting White deep to go inside the visitor's five yard line. One play later, Gillman found the endzone for the fourth time on a short burst up the middle. The two point conversion on a pass from Bergen to Jake Olson put the Griz up 41-38 with just over five minutes to go.
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Weber State again came up with a big play when it mattered most on the next possession, with Munoz hitting Sharp for a 71 strike, with another missed tackle from the Griz springing him loose. The score put the visitors back in the lead 45-41 with just over four minutes to play.
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Montana then set out on a methodical rush-driven drive that saw the Griz carry the ball seven times in 10 plays to chew up the clock before Fife hit White up the middle for a 13-yard strike that put the Griz on top 45-48 with less than a minute to play.
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On the next drive Munoz again came up with big plays as time expired in regulation, however, carving up the UM defense for gains of 12 and 17 through the air before Thompson kicked a 43-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
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After UM won the overtime coin toss and chose to send the defense out first, Munoz converted a third and seven with the controversial pass to Bankston in the endzone that was eventually upheld after review, giving WSU the 55-48 lead.
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One play later, Fife was on the ground, the ball was loose, and Weber State went home with a win, caping a wild finish in Missoula.
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We've got to play more cleanly and play better. And when I say cleanly it means we have to execute our assignments better," said Hauck.
Â
"I think we're in position a lot, but we get out of position and whether it's a protection or a coverage or a guy getting out of his leverage point on a run play on defense, whatever the case may be. We've got to do that, and when we get our hands on people they've got to go down. It's all those things. There are not drastic things wrong, we've just got to play a little better." Â
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Montana will look to rebound from the loss at home again next week when Northern Arizona comes to Missoula on Homecoming Weekend. NAU beat the Griz 28-14 in Flagstaff in the last meeting between the two old conference foes, right before Montana ripped off a string of 10-straight wins.
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The Lumberjacks come to Missoula at 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference play after a near-miss of their own on Saturday, falling at Idaho 23-17 in a thriller.
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Team Stats
WSU
UM
Total Yards
541
527
Pass Yards
364
355
Rushing Yards
177
172
Penalty Yards
85
45
1st Downs
22
26
3rd Downs
4
8
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
25:05
34:55
1st Quarter
WSU 0, UM 7
UM - Gillman,Eli 37 yd run (Morrison,Ty kick), 4 plays, 59 yards, TOP 01:42
WSU 7, UM 7
WSU - Record,Jayleen 35 yd pass from Munoz,Richie (Thompson,Kyle kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:39
WSU 14, UM 7
WSU - Bennee,Noah 6 yd pass from Munoz,Richie (Thompson,Kyle kick) 6 plays, 91 yards, TOP 02:28
2nd Quarter
WSU 14, UM 10
UM - Morrison,Ty 44 yd field goal 12 plays, 42 yards, TOP 05:19
WSU 21, UM 10
WSU - Kjar,Noah 95 yd kickoff return (Thompson,Kyle kick)
WSU 28, UM 10
WSU - Sharp,Jacob 50 yd pass from Munoz,Richie (Thompson,Kyle kick) 2 plays, 55 yards, TOP 00:37
WSU 28, UM 17
UM - Fife,Logan 2 yd run (Morrison,Ty kick), 6 plays, 59 yards, TOP 02:38
3rd Quarter
WSU 28, UM 23
UM - Gillman,Eli 68 yd pass from Fife,Logan () 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:46
WSU 31, UM 23
WSU - Thompson,Kyle 29 yd field goal 5 plays, 14 yards, TOP 02:02
4th Quarter
WSU 31, UM 30
UM - Gillman,Eli 3 yd run (Morrison,Ty kick), 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 03:06
WSU 31, UM 33
UM - Morrison,Ty 48 yd field goal 7 plays, 18 yards, TOP 02:24
WSU 38, UM 33
WSU - Record,Jayleen 53 yd pass from Munoz,Richie (Thompson,Kyle kick) 3 plays, 70 yards, TOP 01:14
WSU 38, UM 41
UM - Gillman,Eli 4 yd run (Olson,Jake pass), 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 03:06
WSU 45, UM 41
WSU - Sharp,Jacob 71 yd pass from Munoz,Richie (Thompson,Kyle kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:45
WSU 45, UM 48
UM - White,Keelan 13 yd pass from Fife,Logan (Morrison,Ty kick) 11 plays, 73 yards, TOP 03:32
WSU 48, UM 48
WSU - Thompson,Kyle 43 yd field goal 9 plays, 49 yards, TOP 00:59
OT Quarter
WSU 55, UM 48
WSU - Bankston,Damon 7 yd pass from Munoz,Richie (Thompson,Kyle kick) 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 00:00
Game Leaders
CMP
30
TD
2
YDS
344
INT
0
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
11
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
CB
/ Football
DE
/ Football
KP
/ Football
TE
/ Football
RB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
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